Mary Tossell

Mary Tossell Gallery

Mary Rose Tossell was born in Barnstaple, Devon. She became a professional ice-skater and then changed her life, perhaps because of injury on the ice, and turned to fashion and photographic modelling. By this time, she was no longer really a girl-next-door type – more of a very fanciable mum-next-door; what, in modern parlance would be called a MILF. To me, she is one of the sexiest women ever to appear in the two decades of ToCo titles.

To our everlasting delight, she specialised in flimsy lingerie; in other words, she was the perfect candidate for the pages of Spick and Span. Earning even more gratitude from many of us, she was also seen several times wearing a girdle. She seemed to love the kind of knickers that were very popular then but hardly to be found today – high-waisted, but very see-through except where you wanted them to be – the strategic area was covered either with frills or another layer of nylon.

On 31 March 1962, she married dancer Eric Victor Herink at Willesden in North London. They later moved to the States and are apparently living in Las Vegas.